


He Mele No Lilo

by Melethril



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen, Pre-McDanno, also known as canon, not episode-related, set in season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 19:50:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15803421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melethril/pseuds/Melethril
Summary: After an excursion to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Danny and Grace meet a couple of people from Steve's past...





	He Mele No Lilo

**Author's Note:**

> References to Lilo & Stitch in this one (as a movie, not a crossover)

It all started with Grace’s school excursion to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She had been absolutely fascinated by the labs they had there and talked about it non-stop including that time they were having lunch with Five-0 and Steve had immediately perked up and said, “Hey, I know somebody…”

That usually did not end well for Danny. When Steve knew somebody, Danny always eventually had bullets to avoid and knives to fend off. But this time, it had been a private tour through the labs at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

“ _Mahalo nui loa,_ Nalani,” said Steve sincerely. His boyish charm was scaled up an 8 out of 10 on the McGarrett the Dork scale, which was about as dangerous as his McGarrett the Crazy SEAL scale, though less deadly. It was even more dangerous with Danny’s gorgeous daughter beaming right next to him and also thanking Dr. Keoka.

“It was a pleasure to meet you Gracie. Anytime, Steve,” said Assistant Professor in Cellular Biology Nalani Keoka, an absolutely gorgeous lady who had possibly forgone a lucrative career as a model to become a well-respected researcher in her field of something something vesi-or other trafficking. She had gone to _Kukui_ High School and had taken all her AP classes in Natural Science with Steve. That had surprised Danny, since Steve and Chin loved to talk about his achievements as a quarterback, but Steve never talked about his grades in High School. Of course, Danny knew Steve’s inner geek nicknamed “Steve The Nerd”, but apparently, Steve had been top of his class together with Nalani and a few others, excelling in several fields but especially in physics (focus mechanics), chemistry and mathematics. Retrospectively, it did not surprise Danny that Steve jumped at the idea of showing Grace around the lab he had apparently dreamed of working at one day when he was a teenager. Nalani had indicated as much. She had even shown them a collage she had put up in her lab; in its centre was a photo of the top students in her High School and next to it photos of their respective careers. Steve was the only one whose career had not been academic or in the industry/business. Instead, there was a photo of Ensign Steve McGarrett (Annapolis Graduate), right next to it a photo for each rank he had achieved since and finally, a photo of Steve McGarrett leader of Five-0 including an old paper article that displayed the entire team.

Steve had smiled, looking at the rest of the ‘old gang’ and their careers.

“It’s amazing how you kept track of everyone,” he had said, his eyes just a bit too bright.

“Of course. We should totally meet up sometime. Now that you’re stateside, we might actually manage bringing everyone together.”

“I’m sure the others are very busy…”

“Oh, we meet up every three to five years. Now that people are married with and without kids, they just started doing their family vacation in Hawaii around the same time of year… most never left, anyway. It’s easy. I’ll send you an invitation.”

Steve had looked ready to cry at that and no, for Steve, the word ‘easy’ did not go with any aspect of his life, but Dr. Keoka could not possibly know that. The only easy thing for Steve was the little girl next to him who had wanted to continue the tour and he had gladly taken her hand, showing her around with Nalani giving additional information. After a two-hour private tour, it was now time to say goodbye. Danny had the feeling this would not be the last time Grace visited this university.

They left the building around the same time the students started to stream out of their classrooms as the last lectures of the day ended. Automatically, Danny grasped Grace’s hand, and he had to smile softly when he saw Steve’s hand reach out for the other hand, but hesitating. Gracie, bless her perfect heart, immediately reached back and smiled first at Steve, then Danny.

They were just outside of the building when Danny noticed two guys in suits standing by the entrance, which his mind immediately registered as ‘protective detail’. He turned to Steve who had stiffened as well and was about to say something when the New Jersey native heard a strange, choked up gasp not too far behind them. The leader of Five-0 immediately whirled around at that, taking a step forward and to the side so he covered both Danny and Grace. A second later, a shorter body clashed with Steve and it took Danny a moment to realize that a young girl, pre-teen, around 13 or 14, had her arms around Steve.

His partner looked flabbergasted, but his arms pulled the girl into a hug.

“Hyun,” Steve whispered. A girl, probably 18 to 20, stood very close by, her hands covering her mouth, eyes wide-open. The girl in Steve’s arms started crying, but the sounds were choked and kind of strange. The older girl’s eyes filled with tears as she sobbed, “Commander Steve!” With that, she ran and joined the girl, who was obviously her sister, in hugging Steve.

“Leila,” Steve exclaimed, hugging her too. The two suits moved forward but stopped as they saw something behind Danny. He turned to see a guy in more local attire coming closer telling his guys nonverbally to stand down. “James,” Steve nodded at the man, having noticed him from the corner of his eyes.

“Commander McGarrett.”

Hyun continued to express these sounds of utter distress and as they grew a bit louder, Steve gently started hushing her before he switched to humming and then, gently, started to sing quietly.

_“Mahalo nui ia Ke Ali'i wahine_  
'O Lili'ulani 'O ka Wo hi ku  
Ka pipio mai o ke anuenuehi  
Na waiho'o lu'u a halikeole'e  
E nana na maka i ke ao malama mai  
Hawai'i akea i Kaua'i“

 

Danny knew that song and it took him just a moment to place it until he saw his daughter’s face brighten up. She had insisted on watching ‘Lilo & Stitch’ with him at least a hundred times before she moved, so that he would want to come to island with her. It was Grace’s favorite Disney song and Danny, because he could not bear to see his daughter sad, immediately assured her that, yes, this song was wonderful.

 

_“'O Kalākaua he inoa_  
'O ka pua mae'ole i ka lā  
Ka pua maila i ka mauna  
I ke kuahiwi 'o Mauna Kea  
Ke 'ā maila i Kīlauea  
Mālamalama i Wahinekapu  
A ka luna o Uwēkahuna  
I ka pali kapu o Ka'auea  
Ea mai ke ali'i kia manu  
Ua wehi ka hula o ka mamo  
Ka pua nani a'o Hawai'i  
'O Kalākaua he inoa

_'O Kalākaua he inoa”_  
  


Grace and the older girl immediately joined in on the part that could be interpreted as chorus. The younger girl in Steve’s arms, Hyun, did not sing, but Danny saw distinct patterns that her hands formed on Steve’s back. His ASL was rusty, but he recognized it as ‘ _I missed you’_ and ‘ _what are you doing here?’_

While singing, Steve’s hands responded in what seemed like a mixture of Morse code and ASL too fast for Danny to properly identify but it included sentences like ‘ _missed you too’_ and ‘ _I’ll tell you in a minute.’_

The mute and possibly deaf girl had visibly calmed down by the time Steve’s baritone voice stopped singing.

“Commander Steve?” Leila’s voice formed a question.

“I’m the leader of the Five-0 Task Force of Hawaii now,” answered Steve. “This is my partner, Danny Williams and his daughter, Grace Williams. Guys, these are Leila and Hyun Peterson and their personal bodyguard James Silverman.”

Leila greeted them with a smile and then said, “Hyun’s mute, but she can hear you when you speak.” Her hands automatically formed the appropriate signs in ASL, probably out of sheer habit.

“Very nice to meet you, Leila and Hyun,” said and signed Danny simultaneously, very proud that he could still do it. He was even more flattered when Steve looked at him with an expression as if he had just hung the moon and stars. “I’m Danny as the big guy here already told you.” Both girls giggled at that.

“Commander McGarrett!” another voice exclaimed in surprise. A woman, clearly the mother of the girls, and a man who appeared to be the father, approached them swiftly.

“Mrs. Peterson, Ambassador,” greeted Steve the adults, nodding respectfully. Like her girls, she just stepped right into Steve’s comfort zone and hugged him.

This time, Steve looked a lot more uncomfortable, though he gently patted her back. As if realizing what she was doing, the lady stepped back, embarassed, “Oh, I’m sorry, Commander. I didn’t…”

“Please, it’s okay,” Steve smiled his ‘you are a civilian and I’m going to protect you’ smile, before he turned and shook the ambassador’s hand.

“Danny, Grace, please say hello to Ambassador Ron Peterson and his wife Mary Peterson. Amabassdor Peterson is one of the chief ambassadors in South Korea. Ambassador, ma’am, this is my partner Danny Williams and his daughter Grace.”

“Very nice to meet you,” smiled Mrs. Peterson just has Danny finished shaking the ambassador’s hand. “How long have you two been together? I can only imagine how much of a relief the recent repeal of DADT must have been.”

Danny side-eyed Steve who looked the way he only did when they found an explosive device planted on one of his team (and the fact he knew that face spoke volumes about their work). “Danny’s my partner at Five-0, the Task Force installed by the governor of Hawaii to protect our home,” explained Steve. “But yes, DADT expiring was a great day for many service members.”

Mrs. Peterson apologized for the misunderstanding, but her husband decided to put the overly enthusiastic lady out of her misery by asking how Steve was doing. Hyun signed something out of the corner of Danny’s eyes, but before he could turn and see Leila spoke for her sister, “Hyun asks who’s saving people like us now that you’re here.”

“There are many people to take over my job, Hyun,” answered Steve serenely, his eyes pained. “I’m now here on this island, doing everything to keep it safe.”

Hyun’s fingers of her right hand closed together and she touched her right cheek right next to her lips before she moved her hand diagonally up cheek repeating the gesture.

“Yes, I’m finally home,” said Steve, eyes too bright, his smile just a bit fragile. “And you, already going to college with your sister?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Hyun signed. “ _Mathematics and physics for me, linguistics for her. I’m being tutored for the rest of my High School curriculum.”_ Her signing was very clear and slow, obviously noticing Danny ‘listening’ in. It could also be for Steve’s benefit. Steve did sign his words, and he was definitely quite good with ASL, but he took unusal short cuts and abbreviations mixed with Morse code that indicated he had not studied classic ASL but picked up bits and pieces in order to properly and effectively communicate. That together with the implications from their earlier conversation had Danny’s insides turn to ice.

“Hyun, Leila, why don’t you show Grace your favorite spot on campus?” asked Steve, sigining as he spoke. “We’ll be following you.” He had likely noticed how desperately Danny needed to know what was going on, but also knew that he did not want Grace to hear while unwilling to leave her out of sight. Leila smiled gently at Grace, took her hand and held out her other hand for Hyun, and together, the three girls walked away with the security detail right next to them and Danny, Steve and the Petersons a few steps behind.

“So, Commander Steve, what can you tell me?” Danny asked, unable to help the slight tease.

“Long story short. They were kidnapped, my team found them, we brought them back.”

“Okay, now the long story please,” demanded Danny.

“Technically, it was not my mission.”

“I’m sorry, that is not the long story. In fact, the explanation is about five words less than your first story,” Danny complained.

“It’s classified, Danno,” Steve replied with that long-suffering sigh he only had when they went right into Steve the SEAL territory. Thankfully, Mrs. Peterson decided to chime in.

“Well, he may not be allowed to tell you much, but we can say what Commander McGarrett did for us personally, because that is not classified. As he already said, my husband was an ambassador in South Korea. We lived in Seoul for all of Hyun’s life. On April 25, 2005, at 1 PM,” she began, halting in order to keep her composure, “my daughters, seven and thirteenat the time, were kidnapped by unknown culprits. They were gone for two months, 21 days and four hours. They were brought back, traumatized but largely unharmed, by a platoon of Navy SEALs led by Commander McGarrett from an unknown location together with twenty-three other girls, some of whom had been hurt badly. Bringing them back had neither been their mission nor their duty. Bringing them back had put the men in mortal danger and they did it anyway. One of them was almost fatally injured but he pulled through, though he could never serve with the SEALs again. Have they finally recognized you for going above and beyond, Commander?” she asked. “We’ve never heard anything about that, though we ask regularly.”

“No,” Steve’s lips formed a half-smile. “These kind of decisions take years, but I can’t say I’m keeping track of it. I’m just glad that the girls seem to be doing so fine. Last time I saw them, they were still recovering.”

“So,” Danny continued. “You and your team were God knows where doing God knows what, found the girls and brought them back.”

“Danny…”

“Steve, I’m not asking you to divulge the country you were in or National Secruity secrets, I’m just asking whether my theory is correct.”

“Yes and no. To use your turn of phrase, we were God knows where after having finished God knows what and we had to return quickly but then we heard rumors of stolen girls at a remote location. I sent a Fire Team back to base to report, while the rest searched for the girls. We found them, brought them back; the ambassadors’ daughters had been the most recent additions.”

“So, finding your way back took nearly three months.”

“Yeah, we… had to nail the bad guys. We had to. They were doing it all. Remember our friend Sang Min? He’s basically a choirboy compared to them. Hell, the Hesse brothers were terrified of these guys. Doing it all. We got them and we saved a lot of good kids in the process.” As he spoke, Steve straightened, looking as proud of his accomplishment as he had ever seen him.

“How much trouble did you get in for doing that?”

“None, actually, because I did report back and the senior officer responsible for us put his career on the line by supporting us. He got promoted in the process and is a candidate to become an O-9 some day.”

For a moment, nobody spoke before Danny chuckled, “Well, three months with a mute girl… No wonder you know some ASL, but I noticed you use an almost code-like variation of it. You taught her how to use Morse code?”

“Yeah, it was the easiest way to… I knew some basic ASL but nothing beyond the alphabet and basic sentences and questions. She’s a quick study and learned Morse code in no time.” His expression was soft when he looked to Grace who seened to be learning the basics of ASL from Hyun and Leila.

“And the song?”

“Oh, that…” Steve hesitated. “It’s stupid.”

“Babe, come on, McGarrett the SuperSeal can do stupid things, he does foolish things all the time, but Steve the Nerd singing Disney songs could never be stupid.”

“The movie came out in 2002. I was twenty-six and it had been ten years almost to the day exactly that I last stepped foot onto this island and I… We walked past some movie theatre in… doesn’t matter. I saw the movie poster announcing the Lilo & Stitch and stopped for a second to look at it. Some of the guys noticed, they convinced me to go and I… God, I must’ve watched it a dozen times. Silly, I know, but… Lilo… and I…” Danny nodded, remembering the orphaned girl and of course, the big goof next to her could relate, even if it was with a fictional, Disney-animated character. “Turned out, it was Leila’s favorite movie. For as long as she could remember, they spent their family vacation on Oahu every year.”

“So you sang that song to connect with the girls and calm them down.”

“Yeah.”

Gently, Danny bumped into him, and smiled, “You’re a good man, Steve McGarrett.”

“They’re great kids,” was the only reply.


End file.
